Held Hostage
by mk10
Summary: On the way to New York, the Glee Club is ambushed.
1. Wicked

*I don't own anything to do with gLee*

* * *

The Glee club were on their way to New York to see a production of 'Wicked'. They had been driving for hours and they needed to stop for a break. The particular road they were on was just a desert highway so the driver was looking for an old gas station. They found just that. Up ahead was an old abandoned garage.

Mr. Schuester turned to the kids. "Okay guys. We're gonna stop up ahead so you can stretch your legs and get some fresh air." The bus pulled up to the garage and the kids exited the rusty doors. The driver got out beside Will and noticed another bus beside theirs. It was dark and had tinted windows. There was a man bent down at the wheel who appeared to be changing the tyre. Another man came out of the bus.

"Thank God. We thought nobody would pass by."

Will smiled. "You guys need some help?"

"Yeah. We hit a rock about 100 feet back. You wouldn't happen to have a spare tyre would ya?"

The driver nodded. "As a matter of fact we do. We keep it in the floor. I'll get it for you."

"Much appreciated."

Will studied the man. He had a cap, sunglasses, and a short beard. He looked like a tourist. The man spoke.

"So you guys on a trip?"

"Yeah we came all the way from Ohio to New York."

"That's a long old haul. Ohio huh? McKinley High?"

"Yeah that's us."

"I read in the paper that you guys got a heck loada money off the new scheme the governments been runnin'. Something like $2 million?"

"Uh, yeah that's right. It's gonna be used for renovations, new computers, trips like this; things that will really help the kids."

"That's great." He glanced over to the man at the wheel. "It's nice to see them giving something back."

The driver came back rolling the tyre along the ground.

"There ya go. You need a hand with the jack?"

The man smiled. All of a sudden he pulled out a gun from his jacket.

BANG!

* * *

Mercedes and Kurt were sitting on a blanket in the shade of the bus' shadow.

"You'll finally get to hear how Defying Gravity should be sung."

Mercedes smiled. "I can't wait to do some shopping."

"Mercedes this is hardly-"

They were cut off by a loud bang.

"What was that?"

They both got up and ran around to see their driver fall down dead.

Mercedes gasped. "Oh my God!"

All the kids were frozen. Finn ran forward.

"Mr. Schue!"

"Finn stay back." He turned his attention to the man who was now surrounded by men and women all holding guns. "Calm down, okay. What do you want?"

He stepped forward. "We want you and your kids." He looked at the entire club and smiled. "Kids. You are now our property. If you do as we say you won't be harmed."

Kurt spat. "What? So we just wait around to be shot like him?"

The man stared at Kurt. "I'm going to remember you." He looked at them all and held his gun up.

"Now everybody get in the garage."

* * *

TBC


	2. Broken in Different Ways

The garage was fairly large. Full, it would hold around 10 cars. It had two large shutters. It had a small office to the left and a small room to the right. The kids were lined up sitting against the wall. They all had their hands tied behind their backs. The man tying them had his arms behind Kurt fastening them in place. He took a deep breath and stared at Kurt an inch from his face. He stepped up and left. Kurt shivered. All of the attackers and Will were in the office.

"What do we do?" Tina asked.

Puck turned to her "What can we do? We can't move. And in case you haven't noticed they have machine guns that one of them used to kill Jack."

"What if they kill us?" Santana was panicking.

"Everybody calm down. They said if we do as they say none of us will be hurt." Finn voiced.

Kurt turned to him. "Do you really believe that?"

There was no answer. Instead the door opened and a man walked out. The same one who tied him up. As he walked towards the other room he stared at Kurt the whole way over. Kurt had a horrible feeling in his chest. Another man came out of the office with a chair. He dragged it to the middle of the room and sat down on it. He left his gun resting against his leg and took out a magazine. There was silence. Everybody just stared at him reading.

"Are you going to kill us?" Brittany spoke.

He looked up from his magazine. He was about 35, good looking.

"That's not up to me, unfortunately."

"What do you mean "unfortunately"?" Rachel asked.

"I just do this for the money, so whatever Marcus says, I do." He continued to read.

"Wait. So this is your job?" Santana was puzzled.

"Look kid-"

The office door opened. The kids could see through the gap in the door Mr. Schue sitting on a chair. They also heard a voice.

"...maybe you will when one of your kids is involved. Jay! The tall one!" A man came out and nodded to the man sitting down.

With that, the man in the chair got up and approached Finn with his friend.

"I'm sorry." They dragged him up and led him to the office.

"What are you doing with him!" Rachel shouted.

The door closed.

"Oh God." She was tearing up.

Quinn looked beside her to Puck. "What do you think-"

"I don't know." He looked pissed. His fists were clenched behind him.

All of a sudden a shout was heard.

"God dam it!" Puck yelled.

The door opened and Finn was dragged out and sat back down between Puck and Rachel.

"Are you okay? What did they do?"

"Ugh, god damn it they broke my finger."

"Don't try to move it. Did you see Mr. Schue?"

"Yeah he looked okay. They kept asking about money and a grant or something?"

Artie thought. "Wait. The school got some money a few weeks ago. It must have something to do with it."

"You'll be fine, okay?" Rachel smiled.

Finn nodded. "Yeah."

* * *

It was now night time and one of the doors was left open to let the moonlight in. It was quiet. Nobody spoke. What could they say? Everybody just thought about home.

All of a sudden headlights approached and a car pulled up to the garage. Two men get out and paced towards the office.

"God dam waste of time. He lied to us!" They burst into the office.

"What was that about?" Quinn asked.

"I don't know, but it can't be good." Puck answered.

A yell was heard from inside the door.

"Do you like seeing your kids suffer!"

The leader now known as Marcus came out followed by the man who was staring at Kurt earlier. Marcus stopped in front of Kurt and smiled. Kurt just stared up at him in dread. Marcus then turned to the other man and nodded. He then left.

The man approached Kurt and bent down. "My turn."

He roughly grabbed Kurt's collar and hauled him off his feet. He dragged him to the empty room on the right.

"Hey, get off him!" Finn shouted.

"What are you doing!" Mercedes yelled in tears.

He threw Kurt into the room and closed the door. There was a window to the room, but it was foggy.

"What the hell is he gonna do to him?" Mercedes was hysterical.

A scream was heard and a bang. The glass rattled and a silhouette could be seen smashed against the hard window.

All the Glee club could do was to listen to Kurt's screams for the next hour. Most of them were in tears. Mercedes was holding Finn's hand tightly. There was silence for a moment before Kurt's head suddenly smashed through the glass.

All of the girls screamed. Puck and Finn were irate.

"What the hell!"

Kurt was pulled back in and the door opened. He was dragged back to Finn and Mercedes, a trail of blood behind him. He was thrown onto Finn and Mercedes' laps. The man left.

"Oh my God." Everybody was silent.

His head lay against Finn's thigh. Blood soaked through onto his jeans. His shirt was torn open to reveal dark bruises on his chest and stomach. Finn saw scratches on his chest and arms. The most frightening thing was that Kurt's white belt was still open and there was blood all over his trousers. Kurt was making groaning sounds, but he wasn't fully conscious.

Mercedes couldn't control herself. "Oh baby. What have they done to you..." Tears fell onto Kurt's face.

Finn fumed. "I'm gonna kill them...I, I..."

* * *

TBC


	3. Pressure

It had been half an hour before Kurt first showed signs of movement. Until then everybody was silently fuming. Mercedes was rocking her legs to try and comfort Kurt without the use of her hands. Finn had his legs bent over Kurt to offer some form of protection. Kurt's eyes flickered open very slowly. His head was on Mercedes' lap now so she was the first to notice.

"Baby?"

He started to make small coughing sounds. His eyes were now open fully, displaying those blue orbs.

"There you are." She smiled down at him. He looked up at her and smiled gently back. His face then turned into that of realisation and horror.

"...I..."

Finn spoke. "It's okay. He's gone."

Kurt turned his head and buried it into Mercedes' sweater and started to cry. Mercedes couldn't help it as to do the same, neither could Quinn or Rachel or Santana. Brittany didn't fully understand what had just happened. Kurt's best friend was openly crying too.

"Aw, damn it baby. Why did this have to happen, huh? It's okay, we're all here."

Kurt looked back up at her, his eyes crystal blue and shining from the tears. His bare, bruised chest was exposed in the cold night making him tremble. Finn lowered his legs trying to cover Kurt as much as possible.

"Hey, man. Are you okay?" He knew the answer, but felt he had to say something.

Kurt looked down towards Finn. He caught sight of his brother's jeans.

"...I'm sorry..."

Finn was confused. "For what?"

"I got y-your pants all... bloody..."

Finn's heart broke. He didn't know what to say. "Oh, Kurt. Don't you worry about that. Don't you ever..." He was lost for words. Rachel gripped his hand tight.

The door opened. Marcus walked out. Mercedes perked up.

"Hey! You need to untie Kurt now!"

He stopped ad looked at here with his hands on his hips.

"Kurt?"

Finn got angrier. "Yeah, Kurt. My brother. The kid that's lying on top of me covered in blood after your friend-" He couldn't finish that sentence.

Marcus stepped forward. "Oh, him? And why would I do that?"

Rachel answered. "Because it's freezing and he's half-dressed. Because your friend assaulted him. And because he needs medical attention!"

Marcus smirked and chuckled. "I see." He approached the kids and knelt down in front of Kurt. "What do you think Kurt?"

Kurt was barely conscious. He tried to turn his head, but it wouldn't respond. Marcus grinned.

"See? He's fine." He stood up and went to walk back to the office.

"Are you blind!" There was silence. Marcus turned around to see everyone gazing at Artie who was breathing heavily. The attacker paced towards him.

"Excuse me?"

"Look at him. He's not even conscious. He's barely breathing! He's clearly not fine!" Nobody had ever heard Artie raise his voice before. Marcus stood for a few seconds in silence then approached them and knelt again. He stared at Artie coldly and placed his hand on Kurt's broken chest. Finn tried to kick at him, but he couldn't reach.

"Keep your hands off him!"

Marcus didn't take his eyes off Artie. Instead he pressed down into Kurt's chest with his hand. Kurt began to squirm in his semi-conscious daze, being brutally dragged into awareness. Mercedes could feel her best friend getting heavier on her lap.

"What are you doing? Stop."

He didn't. He kept pushing down harder, putting more and more pressure onto Kurt's bruised and cracked ribs. Kurt started to shift and his breaths got shallow. He started becoming more aware of the pain, but not of what was happening.

Artie didn't know how to react. Marcus was looking at him so disturbingly, as if he was enjoying hurting the boy, but also as if he was trying to prove a point. He didn't blink.

"Am I blind?" He leaned his full weight on Kurt who was now sobbing. His gaze not shifting. "No. My eyes are wide open."

Artie was horrified. Finn and Mercedes were the only ones close enough to Kurt to attempt to help him, but without their hands they were helpless.

Quinn yelped. "Please stop. Look at him! Look at what you're doing!"

He was knocked out of his trance and looked down at the boy he was torturing. Kurt was crying now. Something inside of him clicked and he immediately released his hand. This was the first time he fully took in the sight of the young man. He was severely shaking, covered in blood, his skin was blue where the shirt didn't cover, and he was clearly fighting for his life. He almost couldn't believe the agony he had just created. He shot up and paced back into the office. Everybody turned their gaze from the door that was just slammed, to Kurt.

He was coughing slightly and it terrified everybody to see a trickle of blood coming from his mouth.

* * *

TBC


	4. The Pocket

Finn freaked. "Oh God. Kurt, man. Um, um..."

He coughed again, but he looked as if he was trying to say something behind the liquid blocking his voice fro escaping. Mercedes knew that look. He looked intent on it. She leaned down to him.

"What is it baby?"

"...m-my... p- ocket..."

Mercedes frowned. "They emptied all our pockets."

Kurt nodded shakily. "...p-a..nt ... leg..."

Mercedes was puzzled. She looked at Kurt's bloody black suit pants and her eyes met the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. A pocket. A pocket in the shin of his pants.

She laughed. "Why on earth..." She looked down at him admirably.

He smiled lightly. "...i-it's...me..."

She smiled back. Finn tried, some way, to get at the pocket so he could open it.

"Okay, this is going to be difficult." He twisted his body in numerous, and if the situation were different, hilarious ways to see if he could reach the zip with his hands, but to no avail. "Damn it. I can't reach."

"Let me try." Brittany scooted over to Kurt's legs. She backed into them and without even looking zipped open the pocket and reached in. Finn stared at her with a smile.

"How did you do that?"

She turned to him. "My massaganist taught me."

Mercedes thought. "Your "massaganist" taught you how to open a shin pocket with your hands tied behind your back?"

She didn't answer. Instead she threw an object lightly onto Kurt's stomach. Everyone gasped.

It was a phone.

"Brittany. Kurt. I could kiss you both right now." Puck beamed.

Rachel smiled. "Okay. How are we going to-"

"I'm on it." Brittany, shoes already off, managed to unlock the phone with her foot. "How do you spell 911?"

Finn leaned in. "Just dial the numbers Britt." She did. Finn put his head down against the phone on Kurt's damaged stomach. There was silence for a moment.

"Hello, hi. My name's Finn Hudson and me and the Glee club are being held hostage in a garage...

McKinley High, yes...

We were on the Lincoln Highway travelling from Ohio to New York...

Yeah, a school bus...

We need an ambulance, one of my friends is hurt really bad...

Please hurry, they have guns and our teacher is with them...

Okay..."

He turned to them. "They're gonna get the license plate of the bus from Principal Figgins and trace it to us. They've been looking for us already so they're in the area." He smiled and let out a sigh.

"Thank God." Tina said as she lightly laughed. Everybody relaxed, to a degree.

Finn turned back to the phone. "Brittany, I need your foot again."

Rachel asked. "What are you doing?"

"I'm calling Burt."

"I'm sure the police have reached him, Finn."

"I need to call him."

After Brittany dialled he put his head down to the phone.

"Burt? It's Finn...

I'm fine yeah, but Kurt's not doing good..."

All of a sudden the door burst open. Marcus stormed out.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing!"

He ran over and grabbed the phone off Kurt's stomach. He stared at him.

"Is this yours, boy?"

Kurt stared up at him through heavy, red, terrified eyes. He angrily threw the phone against the wall. He grabbed Kurt by the shirt and hauled him off of Finn and Mercedes. He threw him to the ground and kept him in place by resting his boot on Kurt's stomach. Suddenly he pulled out a gun from his pants and aimed it down at Kurt.

"Oh my God!"

* * *

TBC


	5. Made of Gold

Will heard the shout from in the next room.

"What's going on in there? What are you doing to the kids?"

The woman with the gun smiles and lets out a small snicker. She puts her hand on the handle.

"Oh, you want to know? Let's go look."

The door opened and Will stumbled out to the ground.

Everyone was trying anything to get Marcus to put down the gun, pleading, threatening, begging, but it wasn't working.

He pointed down to Kurt shakily. Sweat was pouring down his forehead as he licked his lips, crazed.

"I told you I'd remember you, kid."

Kurt tried to focus on the man standing on him. It was hard to open his swollen eye wide enough to see anything, he could just see the barrel of the gun pointing at his face. He thought for a moment. He had thought about moments similar to this before. If he was in trouble he could somehow manage to swoop in and save the day with his utility belt full of combs, or his fashion force. However, that was when he was 8, and in those scenarios his Dad was always with him. Here he was alone and helpless, so close to being shot. He turned his head to his left so that his cheek was touching the oily ground. He took in the sight of all of his friends, each looking terrified for him. They looked even more helpless then he felt.

He heard somebody yell "Mr. Schue!" and they looked over at their teacher on the ground.

Puck shouted at Marcus. "Come on, man! I've been to Juvie! Imagine what being in prison for murder would be like!"

Marcus turned to him creepily slow. "Who said anything about murder?"

Everyone looked confused. Marcus then looked back down at Kurt and shifted his aim down to Kurt's knee cap.

BANG!

* * *

Nobody moved. They couldn't. The smoke slowly seeped out of the gun echoing the kid's beautiful innocence that left them that day. All they could do was to stare at their friend screaming in agony. Kurt screamed as the bullet lodged deep in his knee. That sound was the most heartbreaking thing any of them had ever heard. Will looked up from the ground when he heard the gun shot, hoping to God one of his kids wasn't killed. His hope turned into horror as he saw the kid he admired the most writhing on the ground screaming. "...No."

Mercedes' heart was in her mouth and she was full on crying now. Her best friend, her confidant, her life was in so much pain and she couldn't do anything about it. Living in Lima, she never thought in a million years that she would see Kurt like this. She knew of the bullying, and she had even prepared herself for if Karofsky or Azimio stepped it up a little, but nothing ever like this. He was shot for God's sake.

Finn was still taking in what he had just seen, silently. He couldn't believe it. Kurt was his brother. He thought about all the times Kurt had helped him; the time when helped him look smart to tell Quinn's parents about the baby, actually helping him do it, setting up their parents and putting together the entire wedding. It killed Finn to see him like this. He wanted so much to tear that animal off of the boy he had just shot. Instead, Marcus kept his foot on his stomach and stared down at the screaming boy.

He stepped off of him and picked up the empty shell from the bullet he had just used to maim Kurt. He held it delicately in his hand as if it were made of gold. He bent down to Kurt and put it in his torn shirt's pocket and patted it. He bent down to him. Kurt, who had stopped screaming, but was visibly in agony, couldn't do anything to prevent Marcus from getting closer to him.

"So you will remember..."

Marcus stood up, looked at the kids mockingly for a few moments, then walked back to the office. The woman began to haul Will up, but Marcus stopped her.

"No. Let him be with them for a while."

She dropped him down again and followed her boss. The door slammed and there was silence.

* * *

TBC


	6. Along for the Ride

It was a strange thing. It was like seeing a baby bird on the ground injured. What would you do? Will, even though he had his hands tied, stood up and ran towards the pained boy squirming on the ground trying to do anything to make the pain go away. Mercedes and Finn approached Kurt too, being the kids closest to him both physically and on a personal level. The three of them knelt around Kurt and looked at each other.

"Kurt? Kurt, can you hear me?" Will broke the silence.

There was nothing. He just continued to shift and sob.

"Come on, bro. Please try to listen."

He let out a whimper.

"Baby, are you with us?"

No reply, just pained noises.

Will breathed out annoyed. "That's it."

He sat backwards, and brought his tied hands underneath his body and beneath his knees. Before the kids knew it, his formally tied-behind-his-back hands were now his tied-in-front-of-him hands. He could now tend the Kurt that little bit more. He reached his hands forward and placed them on Kurt's forehead. He frowned.

"God. He's burning up."

"How can that be? He's shivering."

"Being left in the cold for this long, in his condition takes its toll. He **needs** medical attention."

Finn inched forward. "I called the cops a little while ago. They said they're on their way."

"You did what?" Will didn't know whether to smile, laugh or hug Finn. "How?"

Finn looked down at Kurt and smiled. "He had a spare phone in his pants."

"M-m... Sc-hue...?"

Will looked down at the counter tenor.

"Kurt? Are you with me?"

They were very worried about the way he was breathing. Shaky and hitched. He no doubt had pneumonia by now.

"...i-it...h-urt...s..."

Will could feel a heavy lump in his throat as could Finn and Mercedes. Their eyes started to sting. They would do **anything **to make his pain go away. This boy, Kurt, was too delicate, too innocent, too pure to have something so brutal, so cruel, and so disturbing happen to him. How the hell did this even happen? The last thing any of them expected to happen during a school outing to the theatre was for one of them end up getting shot. It was Lima, Ohio. Nothing ever happens there. Nothing, until now.

"It's okay, Kurt. The police are on their way."

"And so are we."

Everybody looked up to see Marcus with all of his group, about twenty in total, standing at the door all fully armed.

"And I'm afraid we'll be taking that boy of yours with us. We've taking quite a liking to him."

The whole club shifted to sit between them and Kurt.

"No freaking way!" Puck was set on not letting them touch his boy again.

"You've done enough to him!" Santana was next to her man, protecting their boy.

Marcus and his group stepped forward. "We're well aware of his condition. He's been mighty helpful to us."

They continued to advance. "Now, I was simply informing you of what's going to happen next. Get in our way, and I'll blow his other knee cap off."

He held his gun in his hand menacingly. The kids and Will took in the sight of the AK. The teacher turned to his kids.

"Guys, we have todo as they say."

Mercedes protested. "Hell no! We can't let them hurt him again, Mr Schue."

"That's just what's gonna happen if we try to stop them. You heard what he said." Finn reasoned.

"Finn's right. For now, all we can do to help Kurt is to stop him getting shot again and to do that we need to back off." Rachel agreed.

They sure as hell didn't like it, but as they looked down at their friend, who was in complete agony, there was no way they could cause him any more pain. So they moved out of their way.

"You made the right decision, kids. If Kurt here could speak, I'm sure he'd be thanking ye." He turned to his group. "Now let's go."

The biggest man picked up Kurt and held him like a baby. Hell, he looked like one in comparison to that giant. They exited the big shutter door into the moonlight. The last one to leave was Marcus, who turned to them.

"Don't worry. You'll see your little friend again... sooner or later." He chuckled. With that, he disappeared into the darkness.

"What the hell do we do now?" Puck asked.

"I can't believe we just let them take him." Quinn stated.

"Look, it was either that or..." Finn couldn't finish.

"Guys." Will spoke. "The police are on their way. We just have to sit tight and when they arrive, we help them find Kurt."

Tina nodded. "Yeah. It's not like there's much else we can do, right now." Mike held her hand behind his back and squeezed.

Artie looked forlorn. "I'm going to have to see if I can get him a chair for a few weeks, considering the damage done to his knee."

The reality of the situation sunk in. That was **if** they got him back. If.

The police sirens followed.

* * *

TBC


	7. Calm Before the Storm

He remembered very little. A pressure on his chest. His knees scraping off gravel. The sound of a door being opened and a thud from hitting a surface. He slowly opened his heavy eyes to see five faces looking down at him. He could hear an engine. He was in the back of a van, lying on the cold surface.

"...M-erc-des...?"

Marcus looked down at him. "Sorry, kid, but she had to stay behind."

Kurt's body was so full of pain that he wasn't sure if he had the capacity to be confused anymore.

"...Wh-re ... m-my f-frien-s?"

The innocence and confusion in the boy's voice actually made Marcus feel a tiny amount of guilt for the first time since he started torturing him. He took his time to form a reply, but he needed to stay rough and brutal if this was going to work.

"...They're far away now, boy. You're on your own."

Kurt let all the air out of his lungs and stopped tensing himself against the arms that held him down, as if he could even try to get up.

"... W-why?"

Marcus moved his head closer to Kurt's own.

"I told you I'd remember you. Before we even brought you into that garage I knew we were takin' one of you with us. The reason it's you? Well there's a few. Look at you. You're tiny. No strength means no resistance. Hell, I'd say you're a lot easier to throw around then those girls in your class are. Well, I guess we can just ask Warren about that." He turned to the man who had taken Kurt into the room alone earlier. He winked.

"I could tell you and crooked fingers were close. We hurt the ones that others are emotionally involved with, they'll break easier." He smiled to reveal a missing tooth.

"And lastly, looks like you're already used to this. The hurtin' I mean. I'd say you're the kid everybody picks on in school. So, we figured, why do the awful task of introducin' a fresh body to the cruelty of physical torture... when we can just push the knife deeper into an already wounded animal."

He laughed. His 'friends' did the same, except for the woman nearest the door, who looked extremely sad.

Kurt coughed causing a trickle of blood to form at his mouth.

"...T-tha-s whe...re y-your w...rong..."

Marcus lowered down further, intrigued.

"What's that, boy?"

Kurt strengthened his barely there voice.

"I-I a-am... use-d to it... b-ut I-I'm fa...r fr-rom w-woun...ded..."

Marcus felt rage filling up behind his eyes. How can he be so certain of himself? He sat up, sitting on his knees.

"Well you know what, boy? What we've done to you so far tonight, is gonna seem like a walk in the park to what's gonna happen to you when we arrive. I guarantee it."

With one swift motion Kurt's world went black.

* * *

TBC


	8. Cabin

"Where is he? Where's my son?"

Burt glared at Will as they all sat in the hospital waiting room while Finn was getting his broken finger set. Everyone was there.

Will didn't know what to say. Mercedes stood up beside him.

"Look, Mr. Hummel. They took him. They said that they were taking him with them and then they just left."

Burt let out a heavy sigh, took off his cap and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Alright. Just, just tell me what happened. Is he ok? Was he hurt?"

Will frowned. "I think we all need to sit down." They all did.

"This is going to be hard to hear." Burt nodded.

"Mr. Hummel, the only one they seemed to be focused on besides Finn was... was Kurt."

Burt closed his eyes and remained silent. Will continued.

"When they first brought us in they kept me in a different room so I don't know the full extent of what happened."

"I can tell you."

Everybody looked to the doorway to see Finn standing with his hand bandaged up. He sat down in between Burt and Will.

"They tied us up and had us sitting along the wall. We were alone for a while, but they kept coming out every now and then." He was finding it increasingly difficult to stay composed because he knew he'd have to tell Burt what happened next. "This one guy, this... animal came in and he..." Tears started to form in his eyes. The first time Finn showed any tears since the news of the baby. Will squeezed his shoulder. "...He dragged Kurt into the next room and he..." This was by far the hardest thing he'd ever have to do. He looked around at the rest of the club. None of them could keep it together. Even Puck looked utterly disgusted. Finn realised he couldn't actually say what had happened. "...He took Kurt back outside and threw him back down beside us. He looked so bad. His head was bleeding, his shirt, you know his favourite one, was ripped... but the worst part was that his belt was undone and his pants were... were all bloody."

Burt didn't know how to react. He clenched his fists so tight that his knuckles were white.

"He's, he's just a... boy."

Rachel, in tears, had to break the silence after that.

"We're sorry, Mr. Hummel, but that's not all that happened."

Burt regained some of his composure and motioned for her to go on.

"They continued to, to beat him a-and then they... they..."

Will stepped up and grabbed Burt's wrist gently. "Mr. Hummel, your son was shot."

Burt stood up immediately. "What!"

"In the kneecap. They shot him."

Burt turned and stormed towards the door. "Son of a bitch! I'm gonna kill 'em!"

He exited. The whole Glee club followed behind.

* * *

It was dark. He was dragged into a cabin and pushed down onto a wooden chair. The second his body hit the varnished wood he was held down by abnormally strong arms. He could feel his arms being placed behind him and the rope being tightly tied to keep them there. It hurt, but at this point, what didn't?

He could feel that his left side was warm and turned his head to see a fire burning in a fire place. He was in a log cabin. To his right was a huge living room where the guys had sat down beside their guns resting against the sofas. All, but one. Marcus, who was standing directly in front of him.

A sharp pain cracked into Kurt's cheekbone as Marcus snapped his hand back and massaged it.

"Now, boy. Tell us about this grant."

* * *

TBC


	9. Here to Help

Why was she here? Why was she a part of this? How could she sit there and watch that awful man beat this poor defenceless already destroyed boy into a million pieces?

She was in the garage with him, she was in the van with him and now she was in the cabin with him. She didn't think she could take much more of this. How could she think that? It was so selfish of her. How could **she** take much more of this? How the hell could that boy take much more of this?

As she watched Marcus relentlessly hit Kurt, she thought to herself; is this really worth the price he promised her?

"I know you know boy. Now start talkin'!"

He rubbed his bloody knuckle with his other hand, feeling tainted. He stared at Kurt, hoping that that alone would cause him to tell him what he wanted to know. Kurt was slumped over to the side, head leaning down, unable to support himself. Warm red liquid was freely dripping from his hair down along his forward and into his mouth as he was forced to taste his own blood. He was conscious, but his brain was too tired to receive the signals his body was telling him to move. He wished he could. All he could try to begin to process was glimpses of; "Grant", "Money", "McKinley", "Tell me!" He had no idea how to respond. All he could think about was the smiling faces of his friends Mercedes, Finn, Rachel and Mr. Schue. Then they formed into looks of horror as he remembered where he was, remembered the amount of pain he was in, remembered that less than two hours ago he was shot.

"Snap out of it kid! Answer me!"

Kurt moved his head slowly to look at Marcus. "...I d-on't kn-now...wh-"

But before he could finish that very laboured sentence, Marcus interrupted him by grabbing his open collar.

"This is how you want it to be, huh? We can use much worse things than a gun to hurt you, **boy**."

With that, he stood up and punched Kurt in the head, sending him into unconsciousness again.

* * *

"Mr. Hummel, we're doing everything we can. At this point it's very early in the search. They can't have gone that far so we have the upper hand."

The detective sat next to Burt who was surrounded by the kids.

"The upper hand? You don't even know where he is!"

"We're working on it. We managed to find an empty shell casing from the gun Ms. Berry said they used to shoot your son."

Hearing that actually said was still enough to make everyone's heart skip a beat.

"We're gonna run it for a print and hopefully we'll be able to determine who it is that has your son. The descriptions these kids gave us just wasn't enough to go on. Don't worry, we'll find him. From what his friends here tell us, he's very strong."

Carole took Burt's hand and held on tight.

"Damn right he is."

* * *

It was night time. The fire was still burning, but just barely. Everybody was asleep, everyone, but her. She held something in her hand as she walked over to the boy tied to the chair, motionless. She knelt down in front of him. She took in the sight of him now having a chance to be this close to him.

The blood coming from his head was starting to dry in, but she could hear his breathing was very shaky. The fire wasn't enough to keep him warm in the cold night air as he was unconsciously trembling. She placed her hand on his good knee, well... his better knee. He stirred a little as his eyes ever so slowly started to open. His head turned to face down at her. He looked completely confused until he realised where he was again and he flinched away.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."

Kurt looked down at her, resting against his knee. He calmed down and studied her completely.

"...W-ho are... y.."

She smiled. "My name is Jess. I'm going to try and stop some of the pain. Okay?"

Kurt gulped, then nodded.

She opened the bag she carried and took out a cloth. She dipped it in disinfectant and held it up.

"This is going to sting a little." She held it against his head. Surprisingly he didn't wince. She guessed he was just so used to the pain which broke her heart. She gently brushed his hair back with her hand and dabbed the cloth against him with the other. These movements contrasted Marcus' completely. He hit, kicked, broke Kurt while she dabbed, treated, helped everything he had caused to the boy.

He watched her as she concentrated on his head. The way she delicately touched his skin reminded him of his mother. When he fell of his bike this is exactly how she would react, with care and tenderness.

She took away the cloth from his head and smiled. "There. That should stop the wound from getting infected." She looked down at the ropes that kept him on that chair and frowned. They were tied unnecessarily tight and they cut into the poor boys wrists.

She took out a small bottle of water from her bag and opened it. "I'm sorry I can't untie you, but I can sooth your wrists."

She gently took his arm and poured the ice cold water onto the ropes binding his arms. He gasped as the freezing liquid seeped onto his raw skin. She felt so devastated as she saw how something so simple could make somebody feel so good, for a moment. It shouldn't.

"You poor thing. Does that feel better?"

He gently nodded. She smiled. "Okay I'm going to take a look at your chest if that's okay." Again he nodded.

She brushed aside the two open sides of his blood soaked shirt. She gasped. "Oh my-"

He shook his head and looked down as tears began to form in his eyes. He shut them tight. That was all he could do.

"Hey, it's okay." She raised a hand up to his cheek. With her other hand she took a tissue from her bag and gently wiped away his tears.

"Hey, look at me. You're going to be okay. You've been through so much and I'm so sorry I haven't been able to do anything for you until now, but I'm here to help you."

He smiled slightly and nodded at her, sniffing.

She took a wet cloth and dabbed at his chest, doing her best to relieve some of his pain.

She continued to help him until morning came. When Marcus woke up.

* * *

TBC


	10. The Boy

It stayed dark just long enough for Jess to remove the bullet Marcus lodged into Kurt's knee. It was extremely difficult for Kurt not to scream, but Jess gave him a cloth to bite down on. She tidied up everything and returned to where she was supposed to be sleeping. In order for her to be able to help Kurt, nobody could suspect her.

Kurt didn't sleep. He couldn't. He just let his head rest against his chest and thought about the things in life that made him happy. He found it harder to keep his eyes closed as he felt the sun shine through the window and the inside of his eyelids turned red. He raised his head slowly and opened his eyes. They hurt from being in the dark so long. When he finally was able to see, his world crashed down again.

"Good morning, sunshine." Marcus grinned down at him. "Time for round 3."

* * *

Everybody refused to leave each other so Burt let the whole Glee club and Mr. Schue stay in his house until they found Kurt. It was early in the morning so mostly everyone were still asleep; everyone except Burt, Carole, Mercedes and Finn. They sat next to one another each drinking tea or coffee. They had been up for about an hour when a knock was heard on the door.

"I'll get it." Carole stood up and headed for the door. After a few minutes she finally said "Please, come in."

The door closed and Carole returned into the living room followed by a boy. He was kind of short with black curly hair. His most distinguishing feature was his uniform.

"Blaine." Mercedes smiled and walked over to hug him.

"Hey, Mercedes." They broke the embrace and Blaine looked at everyone. Finn rose off the arm of the chair.

"Hey, you're the guy in Kurt's locker." Everyone looked at him. He noticed. "The picture in his locker."

He smiled and nodded. Blaine looked at the older man in the cap.

"Mr. Hummel?"

Burt stood up. "That's right."

"Hi. My name is Blaine. I'm a friend of Kurt's." He held out his hand.

Burt studied it, then after a moment shook it. "Good to meet you."

"I got a text from Mercedes this morning. Sorry it took so long for me to get here. I had to get permission to leave class. Is Kurt okay?"

Carole took Blaine by the shoulder. "I think we should all take a seat in the kitchen."

* * *

They all sat at the table in the kitchen with a cup each. Blaine had been told everything. It was a lot to take in, but he was a strong guy.

"I can't believe it."

Mercedes took his hand. "I'm sorry I couldn't reach you sooner. We had to stick around the station and give statements."

"No, don't worry about it."

Burt didn't look away from the boy. "So Blaine, how do you know Kurt?"

"Well, sir." Burt was already impressed. "We first met two weeks ago when Kurt came to my school. We got to talking about some of the stuff he was going through; the bullying, the kiss-"

"Woah, woah, woah. What kiss?" Finn interrupted.

Blaine looked genuinely surprised. "Karofsky?" He was met by blank looks. "He didn't mention that did he." It wasn't a question.

"So you're tellin' me that that psychopath who threatened to kill my son... he kissed him?"

Blaine didn't know what to say. Mercedes thought how could she not notice that her best friend was going through something so hard to deal with? Why didn't he feel he could talk to her about it? Finn clenched his fists together. He was gonna kill him.

Burt calmed down after Carole reminded him what had happened not so long ago.

"Alright, obviously he feels like he can trust you so, thank you. Thank you for being there for him."

"It's no problem, Mr. Hummel."

"Burt. Call me Burt."

* * *

TBC


	11. Courage

*Sorry about the lack of words. Been very busy with college. There'll be much more in the next chapter. Thanks*

* * *

Kurt was terrified, even more so than he had been throughout the whole ordeal. He was staring up at Marcus. Oh, how he hated that name now. Except this time he wasn't clenching his fist together or tightening his boot. He was holding something. Something shiny. Kurt couldn't take his eyes off of the vicious looking object. He gulped.

"I don't break promises, kid."

Kurt was doing his best to respond, he really was. Marcus could see this so he lowered down to Kurt's level and rested his free hand on Kurt's shoulder. He winced.

"That's it. 'Adda boy. I knew you'd make the right decision."

Kurt coughed and gulped and spat up blood, all just to mutter; "...F-for the l-ast t...ime, I-I don't... kn-now..."

Marcus didn't move. His voice took on an extra twinge of hatred. "You listen here, boy and you listen good. You've got the one thing in life that I need. The one thing that's keepin' your little heart beatin' and that one thing is-"

"C-courage..." Kurt interrupted as he lifted his head to look directly into Marcus' eyes. Marcus looked absolutely gobsmacked.

"What did you say?"

"The... thing t-hat I-I have and that y-ou need in y-your... life, is... cour-age..." He even allowed the corner of his split lip to curl into a slight smile.

Jess, who was watching from the corner, had a big beaming small on her face which soon faded.

Marcus shot up. "You cheeky little son of a bitch!" He drew his arm backwards and shot it forward driving the knife deep into Kurt's stomach at the same time grabbing his back and pulling him forward. He held it there and pressed his mouth up to Kurt's ear. He whispered.

"You're not leaving here alive." With one last twist he withdrew his hand, leaving the knife stuck into Kurt's body. Kurt himself couldn't find the voice to scream. Instead he tried to find his air as he took very shallow breaths and, quite frankly, didn't know how to react, to the knife sticking out of him or the last thing Marcus said to him.

Jess looked utterly horrified as she had her hand held up to her face in shock. That was it. The time to act was now.

* * *

TBC


	12. Enough

While Blaine, Burt, Carole, Mercedes and Finn were in the kitchen, the rest of the Glee club all woke up. They sat their quietly waiting for everyone to fully wake up. Once they were satisfied that everyone was, the silence was broken.

"I wonder what they're doing to him." Tina nervously spoke.

"We can't let ourselves think about that." Will answered. "If what happened to him already is anything to go by..." Rachel hated to continue the sentence. "...then it doesn't look good." Her honesty at times seemed annoying, but everyone appreciated the bluntness of what she said because there was no way of even trying to sugar coat what was really happening or to make it seem any better than it is.

"He looked so helpless." Everybody turned to the dark haired cheerleader sitting on the arm of Brittany's chair. "I mean, he's Kurt. Sure I act like a bitch to him sometimes, but I do that to everyone." Everyone nodded. "It was just really hard seeing him like that, okay."

Brittany agreed. "He was the first man that ever made me feel loved." Everybody looked at her completely confused, then shrugged it off.

Puck stood up and leaned against the wall. "I know that ever since I joined Glee I haven't been targeting any of you guys with my badass guns, but I swear to God, if anybody ever touches Kurt again I'm gonna rip 'em apart." That was his way of getting sentimental.

Quinn smiled. "I'll be right beside you."

"Me too." Mike added. Then Tina. Then Artie. Then Rachel. Then Brittany and Santana. Even Will.

"So will we." Everybody looked to see Burt, Carole, Mercedes, Blaine and Finn all standing in the doorway smiling.

They entered the room and sat down, waiting for anything.

* * *

Kurt was panting and sweating trying to not focus on the giant knife sticking out of his stomach. Marcus stormed away in anger and the rest of his group were out. Except for one. Except for Jess who had hid in the dark corner. She ran over to him. She stared at him and started to panic herself. Kurt couldn't do anything. He was stuck. He was tired of not being able to move. Granted, he probably wouldn't be able to if he could, but it was nice to have the option. The ropes burned, his broken bones ached, the bullet wound stung, the bruises and cuts throbbed and the stab wound tormented him. Enough was enough. That was exactly Jess' way of thinking as she took out her phone.

"I can't sit by and watch any longer. What's your Dad's number?"

It took about ten minutes to say it, but he managed. She dialled and it began to ring.

Burt sat on the sofa next to Carole. The phone rang and he shot up and answered it.

"Hello?"

"What they're doing to him is animalistic. I want to help."

Burt was apprehensive. His blood boiled with the information, but as everybody stared at him awaiting more words he had to be sure.

"How can I be sure?"

Jess thought for a moment. An idea!

Burt could hear a muffled voice. "Here Kurt, talk to your Dad."

His heart skipped a bit. "Kurt? Son? Are you there?" Everybody in the room with him held their breath.

"...D-dad..."

"Oh thank God. Buddy, are you okay?"

"...n-o..." A cough was heard and Jess' low voice. "You did great Kurt." It got louder then.

"You need to listen. On top of being shot, he's also been stabbed." Burt squeezed his fist tight almost smashing the phone. "You need to hurry as soon as I give you the address. I don't know how much longer he has. One thing, you can't call the police until you get here. They so much as see a siren and they'll kill him."

"Why are you doing this?"

She hesitated. "Because I like him." A sniff was heard. "Wayne National Forest. A cabin in the south east corner surrounded by trees. Please hurry."

-Beep-

Burt slammed the phone down and turned to everybody.

"Alright, everybody with a car take four people with you and follow me."

Carole turned to him. "What's going on?"

"We're getting Kurt back." He smiled with determination.

"Now let's move!"

* * *

TBC


	13. Driving them Forward

Burt was driving his truck with Carole, Finn, Puck and Rachel inside. He had given Mercedes Kurt's spare key to his 'Baby' which she picked up at the school and took Quinn, Artie, Tina and Mike. Will drove Santana and Brittany following behind. It was getting dark and misty so it was hard to see where they were going, but sheer determination to make Kurt safe again was what was, quite literally, driving them.

"The girl said not to call the cops. So we need to have some kind a plan ready." Burt said from behind the wheel.

Finn was sitting behind him. "But Burt we can't take those guys by ourselves. They all have huge guns."

Puck was sitting at the edge. "There could be a back door or something. We could sneak in and grab Kurt before they even notice. Ninja style."

"That sounds a tad risky. We can't take chances like that when Kurt's life is at stake." Rachel reasoned.

Carole turned to the man behind the wheel. "Do you think we should call the police and tell them what she said?"

"You know what cops are like. They always just go in guns blazin'. As Rachel said, we can't risk anything until I know he's safe."

In the car behind it was full of talk. "What do you think will happen once we get there?" Artie asked.

"I have **no** idea," Mercedes almost sang. "but I'll tell you one thing. Those guys better watch out 'cause those guns won't be enough to stop me."

Quinn tried to calm her down. "Mercedes we need to be careful. You know how far those guys can go. We have to protect Kurt, be we have to protect ourselves too."

"Yeah, I know. I just..." She trailed off and sighed. "It's **Kurt**."

Quinn smiled weakly and put her hand on Mercedes' shoulder. "And that's why we're all here, driving 20 miles over the speed limit, crammed into each other's cars hyperventilating with worry. Because it's Kurt." They gave each other a warm smile.

Mike spoke up. "Do you guys realise this is the first time outside of performing that we're all together as a team?"

There was silence for a moment. "We're not a team until we get Kurt back." Tina spoke full of determination.

In the car behind... behind, Santana and Brittany were both sitting in the passenger seat next to their teacher. Santana had been crying earlier on, but she was too worked up to be now. Brittany kept thinking about holding Kurt's hand and how soft they were.

"I miss him."

Santana held her hand. "Me too, Britt."

"I miss his skin. It was soft."

She turned to her best friend, but didn't look at her. "I never touched him before." How could she have gone a whole year without making some sort of contact with him. Sure she hugged him, but that was it.

"So were his lips. He was my favourite boyfriend." Santana smiled.

Will turned to them after staying quiet for a while. "Wait. You and Kurt dated?" He was confused. "How?"

Santana answered. "Remember that assignment you gave us where we had to sing a song that said "where we were" in our livesand Kurt sang like the butchest song in the world?"

"Yeah, but I just thought he had a crush on John Mellencamp."

"Well, that was when he had his gay crisis and went straight for a week."

"What? Really?" There was so many layers to this kid that Will never even knew about. He really didn't know how rough he had it until the last few days. There was a reason he was always bullied. There was a reason he felt like he had to act straight. There was a reason that psycho back at the garage chose him. He just didn't want to admit it.

"So he and Britt dated." Santana's voice dragged Will out of his thoughts.

"Wow. I never knew."

All of a sudden his phone started to ring. He put it on loud speaker.

"Hello?"

"Hey, William."

Brittany and Santana's faces lit up.

"Sue? How did you get my number?"

"I asked Gingerella and she was more than happy to hand it over. Sure, I had to threaten her with charcoal, but I got it in the end."

"What do you want?"

"I want to help."

"What do-"

"Look behind you, William."

He looked in his rear view mirror to see a blue Le Car driving behind him.

"Sue, how did you even-"

"Nobody messes with my Star Cheerio. Just keep driving."

-beep-

Brittany grinned. "It's on now." Santana linked pinkies with her. "Damn right."

They were ten minutes away from the cabin. Ten minutes away from Kurt. Ten minutes away from the fight of their lives.

* * *

TBC


	14. Right Outside

His head was spinning. Had they not had enough? How many more possible ways are there of rephrasing the same question? He sat there against his will, beaten, abused, shot, stabbed. How was he still breathing? The knife was still sticking out of his stomach. The only thing stopping him from bleeding to death was the knife itself. Jess made sure the bullet wound wasn't bleeding. To him, the situation was hopeless. To him, he was sure he was going to die, but being a Hummel, he wasn't just going to let go. He had fought and fought and fought against everything that they did to him and here he was. Still alive.

He looked around. Things were quiet. Most of them were sitting down, watching tv or talking. Marcus was leaning against a table carving his knife. How many knives did he own? Jess always stayed close to Kurt. As close as she could without them asking. She managed to clean his wounds without them noticing and she managed to call Burt without them noticing. She just hoped to God that it worked.

"Ah, you're awake." Marcus' voice echoed in Kurt's ears. He stuck the knife in the table and walked over to him. He stood there for a few moments just looking at Kurt. He was a complete mess. He was dismantled. He was shaking, trembling. Not out of fear. He was freezing. A thought suddenly came into his head. When was the last time this kid had anything to drink, let alone eat. He needed him alive, for now.

"Jess." She came over. "Get the kid some water." Jess was taken slightly aback with Marcus' sudden bout of generosity. "Hey, calm down. We don't need him dyin' just now." He looked down at the boy and pushed his knee with his foot. "Do we?"

Kurt grimaced through the pain. She came over and gently held the glass up to his cracked, bloody mouth. He drank.

"Tiny sips, okay. That's it." He was still trembling from the cold so most of the water just spilled down his chin.

As Marcus watched he could feel his cruelty well back up inside him as he stepped forward grabbing the cup from Jess' hand.

"You cold, boy?" He then reached up and poured the drink on Kurt's head. The liquid dripped down his face like a waterfall and down his torso to soak into his pants. Marcus brushed back his hair and grabbed it, holding Kurt's head up.

"Your turn to give me somethin'." He reached into his back pocket and took out his phone.

"What's your Daddy's number?" He let go of Kurt's head violently, leaving his hair spiked up, and held his phone out in front of him. Kurt looked at him wide-eyed.

"W-hy..."

"Just do it! And don't you dare lie to me."

* * *

The, now, four cars had reached the cabin. After the drivers received a text from Burt to turn off their headlights, they very wearily turned into the dusty path leading down to the wooden house. Each of them got out and bunched together. They stayed at the tree line to keep out of sight. Burt inspected the house. He could tell there was a fire lit inside, but that was about it.

"Okay. I'm gonna go over and take a look inside the window, see if I can see Kurt."

"Woah, are you sure you should do that. What if they see you?" Finn was apprehensive.

"They won't."

With that, Burt turned and crept over to the cabin. He reached the outside wall and gave them a thumbs up. He turned very slowly and carefully to look in the window. The kids could see him looking in the window. He looked like he was trying to see around somebody. Then they saw his head drop and his fist clench. After a few more moments he gathered himself and made his way back over to them.

"What did you see?" Sue asked.

"When did you... nevermind. He's in there alright."

"How does he look?" Rachel said sincerely.

Burt hesitated. "Terrible. They have him tied to a chair and he..." They could tell how difficult this was for him. They were in the same situation not too long ago. "...he looks so broken up."

Will put his hand on his shoulder.

Finn looked at the house. "What do we do?"

"Well, you were right. We can't just bust in. There's about ten of 'em in there"

"But there's more of us" Tina said.

Quinn answered. "Yes, but they're fully grown men and women and most of them have guns."

"I have an idea." Sue said as she took out her phone and stepped away to speak into it.

Burt turned away and looked back at the house. Mercedes did the same.

"Hold on, Baby. Just hold on."

* * *

TBC


	15. Mayhem

They sat outside the cabin in the darkness waiting for Sue, who said she'd be back in a while. They couldn't go in to Kurt or they'd just be making the situation worse. If they called the police they would be made. What the hell could they do, but wait?

Burt hated this. He knew his son was in that place and there was nothing that he could do. Will watched him, observing. This guy clearly loved his son and would go to the ends of the earth for him. He had never seen a love like this before. Part of him wished he was there for Kurt more, but he was pulled out of his thoughts by a rustling in the bushes behind him. Everyone stood up to see Sue emerge from the darkness followed by a group of figures. Finn recognised one of them.

"Karofsky?"

Blaine flinched at that name and balled his fists tight.

Puck furrowed his brow. "Azimio?" He turned to Sue. "What the hell are the whole team doin' here?"

Sue stopped and folded her arms. "Well I figured we needed more muscle and you can't really get any bigger than these gorillas."

Karofsky stepped forward. Finn did the same. "What did she promise you?"

"Nothing."

"Then why are you helping us?"

Azimio stepped up beside his best friend. "'Cause 'aint nobody gonna throw around Kurt, but us."

They both shifted and avoided eye contact with anybody. Azimio continued. "Plus he helped us win the game and get to the playoffs."

Dave looked at Finn with a look that he had never seen before. Determination almost. "We owe him."

Finn nodded to them both and then to the whole football team and turned to his stepdad.

"Let's get him back."

* * *

Kurt watched tiredly as Marcus held out the phone in his hand. Kurt had debated in his head whether to give him a fake number, but he figured that would only make him angry and at least he'd be letting his Dad know he was still alive if he complied, so he did. Marcus put down his big AK at his feet to dial the number and held the phone up to his ear.

* * *

The Glee club approached the house followed by Sue and the football team. They looked in the window to see where the best entrance points were. There was the main door which was opposite where Kurt was, the side door was further down towards where all the guys were sitting around, and there was a back door which was directly behind Kurt.

Burt told everyone what to do.

"Alright, listen up. Finn, you and the guys go in the side door. When you go in do your best to get to them before they get to their guns. Just think of practice." Finn nodded and looked at Azimio who was his guard. Burt continued. "I'm gonna go in the back way. There's only one guy with Kurt so I figure I can take 'em."

Blaine looked at Burt intently. "I'm coming with you."

Burt nodded.

Rachel looked puzzled. "What about us?"

Will intervened. "Guys. I think it's best if you stay outside. We don't want you to get hurt."

"We're coming in." Santana argued.

"Seriously guys-"

"We're **coming** in." Mercedes grabbed the arm rest of Artie's chair in frustration. Quinn stood up beside her.

"He's our team mate too."

Burt nodded slowly. "Alright. Everybody get into position. When you hear me bust in..." he hesitated "...you do the same." He felt ridiculous telling kids to bust into a room full of people with guns, but they wanted to do this.

Everybody knew what they were supposed to do. Finn, Puck and the rest of the guys on the football team went around the side to the left. Will stayed with Mercedes, Artie, Tina, Rachel, Quinn, Brittany and Santana. Burt and Blaine made their way to the back, closer to his son. Will looked around. Where was Sue?

Burt and the smaller boy knelt outside the window behind Kurt. He could see a man holding a phone putting his gun down. This was it. This was his chance. He was just about to open the door when something happened.

* * *

Kurt's heart pounded as Marcus held his phone up to his ear. This was it. This was the moment when he might be able to hear his Dad's voice again. There was silence as they waited for the phone to start dialling itself. All of a sudden a ring was heard. Marcus looked around.

"What the?"

The ringing stopped as a very quiet "Dammit" was heard from behind him, but before he could turn around the door came flying open and he was being tackled. Kurt hardly got a moment to process the two bodies flying from behind him and tumbling to the ground at his feet before two more bangs were heard and a surge of bodies were suddenly propelling in through the doorways like a blur of colour. It was mayhem. He could barely make out the faces of his best friend Mercedes and the metal of Artie's chair before he was forced to look to the sight before him.

Burt and Marcus were wrestling on the ground in front of him. His Dad had just had a heart attack. There was no way he would win this fight. Blaine ran straight to Kurt. The moment he saw him he froze.

"Ku-" was all he could get out before he was tackled by one of Marcus' men and became part of the mass of bodies.

Finn, Will even Puck would try to get over to themm, but they were too busy with the rest of the guys. Gunshots were heard from the right of Kurt, but he couldn't see exactly from who before being drawn back into the struggle in front of him. All of sudden he saw Jess coming in from the front door and run over, stopping in front of them. Marcus, who now had the upper hand, was on top of Burt hitting him.

"J-ess!" Kurt tried his best to call out. It worked as she looked over to him. He looked down at his feet and kicked as hard as his injured knee would allow, sending the gun sliding towards Jess. Marcus was now standing up and ran over to the table. He took the knife out of it and paced towards Kurt. Kurt couldn't do anything, but watch as Marcus drew his hand back and-

BANG!

Marcus stopped. He looked down at his chest which was now crimson red, dropped the knife and fell to the ground dead. Kurt looked up at Jess who was holding a smoking AK and who was making her way over to Burt. She held out her hand and helped him up. He gave her a thankful look and turned to his son.

"Kurt."

"...D-ad..."

"Freeze! This is the police!" A dozen cops suddenly ran in and pointed their guns in every direction, followed by Sue. Will who was let go by a man who now had his hands up turned to her.

"Sue?"

"I took the liberty of calling the police on the way back, William. It seemed necessary seeing as you couldn't have possibly have been in a worse situation then you were no more than ten seconds ago."

Will then turned to see the SWAT team arresting Marcus' 'team'. He then heard some crying and some voices. The loudest and most notable one that sounded very like Puck was saying something.

"Come on, man. Look at me. I'm right here. Look at me!"

This couldn't be good.

* * *

TBC


	16. Cold

_*I apologise for the lack of length. I just started back college again and time is something I don't have much of anymore. I'll try to update more frequently. Thanks for waiting*_

* * *

His breathing was erratic as he clutched desperately at his stomach. The blood was pouring from the bullet wound through his fingers as his other hand was tangled in the blazer of the smaller boy. Blaine kneeled close and looked down at the giant letterman jacket.

"Hey. Hey. You're going to be fine."

Karofsky looked up at him through heavy eyes.

"I got a good few of 'em..."

Blaine smiled. "Nice job."

Karofsky let go of his shirt to grab his hand. He nodded in appreciation and Blaine returned the favour. Azimio came over to comfort his friend.

Burt was kneeling by Kurt trying his best to untie him from the chair. He was failing miserably.

"Come on, God damn it!"

"Here." He heard as a knife was brought down to cut the ropes binding his son's hands. He looked up to see Jess smiling down at him. As soon as the ropes were cut Kurt fell forward and Burt caught him in his arms.

"Oh, Kurt. Thank God." He held his son tight as he ran a hand through his , now, crimson hair. He finally loosened his grip and looked back up at Jess.

"Thank you."

"It's the least I could have done. Kurt saved me in more ways than he can ever know."

A gasp was heard as Mercedes caught sight of her best friend, beaten, bloody and unconscious in his father's arms.

"Oh my-" She felt herself get weak and became light headed before she felt a weight behind her and Blaine was there holding her warmly.

"It's okay. I know it's hard, but he's safe now."

The both of them slowly approached him. When they reached him Mercedes gently placed a hand on his cheek and felt how extremely cold he was.

"Damn, Baby."

Kurt's eyes fluttered open and he slowly, but surely opened them. He raised his head and could see a lot of people. However, the thing that caught his attention wasn't Mercedes, Blaine or even his Dad; it was a stretcher being wheeled across the room being followed by Rachel and Puck.

Kurt couldn't see Finn anywhere.

* * *

TBC


	17. Feeling

**_*Next chapter will be very long*_**

* * *

Wow. This was amazing. This was the first time he hadn't felt anything in days. No pain. No anxiety. No guilt. Nothing. Just numbness. He tried to focus on where he was. He could see light above him. Then he moved his eyes down to see a blanket, and his hands. One of which was being held by a larger more masculine one, which gripped tighter.

"Hey, buddy."

He focused on where the sound was coming from. He knew who it was, hey, he could see the flannel.

"Dad?"

Burt smiled. "I'm right here. Welcome back."

Kurt let out a long sigh. "How long was I out?"

"Four days. You were pretty banged up when we found you."

He paused as his son shifted in his bed. "Do you remember?"

There was silence for a moment before Kurt nodded. He hated to think back to those horrible few days. All of the pain, all of the worry that he'd never see his Dad and his friends again, all of the regret that he didn't mouth off to Marcus in the first place. His father sensed his uneasiness.

"Hey. It's okay. We don't have to talk about it, alright?"

Kurt suddenly remembered something.

"Karofsky. Finn. Where are they?"

"That Karofsky kid is doing okay. He got shot, but it didn't hit anything important."

"And Finn?"

Burt coughed and changed his positioning on his chair.

"He's not doing so good. The bullet hit his lung."

Kurt didn't know what to say. He needed to know.

"Is he going to be okay?"

Burt waited and looked down. "I don't know."

Kurt could feel his eyes well up. Damn it.

"But look, buddy. This isn't your fault. Right now, we need to focus on you, alright? How are you feeling?"

He gulped. "Well, considering the fact that I was just told my stepbrother might die, I'd say I'm doing just fine."

"Kurt. You know what I mean."

"Yeah, Dad, I know. I'm feeling okay. Look, I know what they did to me. I felt it. So, I know that when the meds wear off, I won't be."

Burt squeezed his sons hand tighter.

Damn. He shouldn't have told him about Finn.

* * *

TBC


	18. The Calm After It All

Everyone took turns to go in to see Kurt. They had to go in pairs so they didn't overwhelm him. The last two to go in were Mercedes and Blaine, two of the most important people in the world to him. They were hesitant at first because they knew that he was going to be in a bad way, but they couldn't wait to **see **him without him writhing in pain. They slowly entered the room and took in the sight of him. He looked weak, thin, pale and in pain. However, they tried to not let their cool, casual demeanour be compromised. They had this all planned out, but of course, as soon as they caught sight of him their plan went out the window. They sat down beside him.

"Do you think we should wake him?" Mercedes held his hand.

Blaine sat on the opposite side and took his other hand.

"Just let him rest for a while. He's been through hell. And I thought I had it bad."

Mercedes was curious. "What do you mean?"

He forgot that Mercedes didn't **know** him. "I transferred to Dalton Academy because I was in a situation similar to Kurt's."

"Wait. Was Kurt going to transfer?"

"We talked about it, but he said he couldn't leave you guys." He stroked his hand as he looked down in admiration at the boy.

Mercedes smiled at him too. "So what happened at your old school?"

"Oh, just the classic bullies making life miserable" He looked up at Mercedes. "I was lucky because it never got a chance to become physical before I left."

Mercedes frowned as she ran her fingers through Kurt's hair. "He wasn't so lucky."

"Well, I think maybe he is."

"What? How do you figure that?"

"Look where he is. He wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Dave Karofsky and the football team. He'd probably still be tied to that chair."

Mercedes took a few moments to contemplate this when she saw a shadow on Kurt. They both turned to find Karofsky standing at the foot of the bed in a robe.

Blaine smiled. "You gonna be okay?"

"Bullet didn't hit anything. Up and runnin' in a few days they said."

"Good to hear." He noticed Karofsky was staring at Kurt with a very pained look on his face. "Would you like a minute alone?"

Dave took his time. "If you don't mind." He was looking at Mercedes as he said this.

Mercedes looked at him sceptically. "Alright, white boy. But if you lay one finger on him you'll be wheeled down to the E.R."

Dave rose up his hands passively. They both exited leaving Dave alone with Kurt. He sat down beside him. He didn't take his hand, he didn't hug him, he didn't touch him. He just sat there.

"I'm sorry, Kurt. I'm sorry for what happened to you. I'm sorry you had to go through all this." He gulped as he felt it more difficult to speak. "But most of all, I'm sorry for what I did to you. I should never have listened to Azimio. I should never have pushed you or said anything to you. And I definitely should not have kissed you." He hung his head down and looked at his own hands twisted and inter twined in each other. He laughed lightly. "That must have been so confusing for you. One minute I'm smashing you into a locker, the next I'm kissing you. It's just..." This was his confessional. "...I wish that I could go back and just erase everything, you know. I, I like you. I've liked you for a while and I wish I had the chance to tell you instead of just pushing you away." He looked at Kurt again before letting his head rest on his hands. "I'm sorry."

"Thank you."

He snapped up to see Kurt smiling at him.

"Oh."

"Thank you for apologising and thank you for helping me."

He coughed and straightened up. "Yes. Well..." He saw that Kurt could see through his 'manly' attempt to be calm, so he loosened up again. "...we owed you one and **I** did too for you not telling anyone about... the kiss."

"I wasn't about to out the most feared bully in school, Dave Karofsky. That would have been the end of me." He laughed cutely.

"As opposed to all that's just happened?" Dave sharply replied.

Kurt waited, then just silently smiled and grabbed Dave's hand gently.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." Dave replied warmly and squeezed back.

He stood up and left the room. Kurt, in spite of all the pain he was feeling right now, also had this very warm feeling in his chest, like he didn't have this huge weight on his back. He lay there and welcomingly took in the gently beeping of the machines surrounding him.

After about ten minutes, the double doors were opened and a bed was wheeled through and placed beside him. The two doctors that wheeled it in turned to exit. One of them noticed Kurt was awake and smiled at him.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better."

"That's good. Doctor Ritchie will be with you shortly. Oh, say hi to your friend." He motioned towards the bed beside him and left.

Kurt turned to the bed and smiled as he saw two big eyes staring back at him.

"Hey, bro."

"Finn. You're alright."

He smiled. "Yep. Got a cool scar too." Kurt laughed. Finn's expression turned slightly more serious. "How are you doing?"

"A lot better than before apparently."

"Yeah, man. You weren't doing too good when we first found you."

Kurt nodded silently. Finn slowly propped himself up and leaned on his pillow. "Can I ask you something? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"Go ahead."

"What were you thinking, when you were... with them? How did you feel?"

Kurt hated to think back through those traumatic few days, but he wanted to answer his almost brother. He took his time.

"...Terrified... cold... empty... alone..." Finn was starting to regret he asked. He hated to see Kurt like this, but for some reason he felt he needed to hear what he was saying. "It was... the worst pain I had ever felt and I thought that it would never end. But then something happened. I started to warm up. I started to feel lighter. It was like as if I knew you were waiting outside." He turned to face Finn. "One of the last things M... Marcus said to me was that I'd never leave that place alive. Right then I knew that I would because we're always able to pull off the impossible. New Directions saved my life and I'm so glad I have you guys as my friends."

Finn gave a genuine smile and reached out his hand. Kurt reached over and took it.

"I'm sorry you got shot." Kurt spoke.

"I'm sorry you got shot too... and stabbed, and beaten up, and broken bones, and cut, and- "It would have made the situation more humorous if they both didn't know where the list of things that happened to Kurt was heading.

"You don't have to say the last part. I know what happened... in that room."

Finn gripped his hand tighter. "You never have to talk about it, okay? Not to anyone."

Kurt let a tear fall and he nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem, bro."

The two boys chat was interrupted by both their parents coming in.

They were so glad to see them.

* * *

TBC


	19. Home

It took weeks for Kurt to be able to go back home. When he did, the Glee club was always over. Will came over a few times. Even Sue stopped by with some energy shakes. Despite being home, it was very rare for him to left alone in case he had a panic attack or God forbid needed some water. He was able to walk, but it took him twice as long as before and he had a noticeable limp. The scar on his stomach impressed Puck who gave him a high five to prove it.

One evening, the evening before he started back to school as it so happened, he had a few minutes to himself before dinner as Finn was working on an assignment for Spanish and Burt and Carole were busy in the kitchen. He lay on the couch just lost in his thoughts silently. He was thinking about all that had happened. He thought about where he was at that moment. He looked at his wrists which still had those faded burn marks from the ropes. He traced the feeling of the scar on his stomach with his fingers.

He had learned so much about everyone around him. They cared so much about him and it took something as terrible as this to help him realise it. In a weird, messed up way there was a part of him which was glad it had all happened. He knew he wouldn't be bothered in school anymore. That took a massive weight off of his shoulders. He knew his father had accepted Blaine. He knew his friends loved him so much and he knew he loved them even more. Now, because nothing worse could happen to him, he was ready to face the world full on.

"Kurt, sweetie. Dinner!"

* * *

Finn and Kurt pulled up to the school. Finn turned to him. "You ready?"

Kurt nodded and let out a happy breath of air. "Yes."

They got out and entered the building. People were looking at Kurt with looks of pride as they watched him limp. They didn't pity him because they knew how strong he was. He wouldn't want it. They both turned the corner only for Kurt to bump straight into Karofsky and two guys from the football team. Kurt stumbled slightly back and stared up at Dave anxiously waiting. He smiled and gently patted Kurt on the shoulder. He then nodded at Finn, followed by his two friends who did the same and continued on their way. Kurt let out a sigh and looked up at his almost brother who was smiling down at him and knew he was truly safe.

They walked down to the choir room and into the welcoming arms of their second family with their warm, smiling faces.

**He was home.**

* * *

THE END


End file.
